Maersk Line hires new East and Central China head

Maersk Line announced on 21 May that Mike Fang will be the company’s new head for East and Central China effective 1 July.

“I am excited to take on this new role and to return to Shanghai,” Fang commented on his new position. “East and Central China is an important market for Maersk Line, occupying a key position of our global network and accounting for a significant part of our global business.”

Tim Smith, Maersk Line North Asia CEO told IHS Maritime, “I’m delighted that Mike has been appointed head of the organisation in East and Central China. Mike knows the local market very well and I am confident that his extensive experience will add great value to our East and Central China organisation.”

Fang joined Maersk Line as a sales representative in 1994. In the past 21 years, he has held a succession of leadership positions in Maersk Line’s business in China such as Shenzhen branch manager and East China sales manager. Currently, he is the head for North China, a position he has held since 2012.

Fang will take over from David Williams, who is moving to Copenhagen to become global CEO of Safmarine.

Born in 1968, Fang graduated from Hua Zhong University of Science and Technology with a Master’s degree in System Engineering in 1992 and earned an Executive MBA from the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in 2004.

Maersk Line reported profit of USD714 million for the first quarter of 2015, a 57.1% improvement compared with the profit of USD454 million in the corresponding period the year before. Its revenue in the first quarter of 2015 stood at USD6.25 billion, 3.2% lower than the USD6.46 billion in the first quarter of 2014.

Maersk Line stated that it will take out capacity in the Asia-Mediterranean/West Africa trades, and still need more vessels by 2017 to grow in line with demand growth.